Grrrr... My tutor makes me want to throw something (AT HIM)!

[Troy Mcleish]

Hello everybody

Sorry to be a pain as I have posted quite a lot lately but I just wanted to get this off my chest! I'm finding it quite therapeutic just typing about it!

I had a supremely awful night at college last night. My classmates all felt the same as me. Its our tutor. Heis just so disorganised and says one thing one week and something completely different the following week and then he always makes it seem like its our fault! This is all to do with paperwork and the admin side of things in class. I won't bore you with all the details!

I wanted to chat to him last night as I need to know if what I'm doing is right with regards to the actual massage. He walks around and watches us massage our clients but we don't get much feedback and I'm the sort of person that when I do something I want to do it properly! Especially as I want to earn a bit of a living from this!I just don't feel like we have had enough practical practice and although he has marked me as competent so far, and I'm allowed to be let loose on the public, I sometimes wonder if he's just wanting us to pass the course so it doesn't reflect badly on him. It's him who assesses us and then an external verifier will come in and want to speak to just one of us.

I will have a look at buying some of the DVD's that have been recommended in one of my previous whinges (I mean posts!)but I'm annoyed that I feel I have tobut also, I'm concerned that I shouldn't be practicing techniques that I've learnt from aDVD. Is it ok to do this? I keep telling myself that if I keep practicing I will become more confident and it is true that I feel more confident and relaxed when I'm practicing at home as the college isn't themost relaxing and stress-fee places but I still need to know if I'm doing it right!

I will definitely speak to my tutor about this but just had to vent my spleen!


And breathe.......

 

[Princessofheart19]

Hi Sarah

we had similar problems my holistic course which I did a few years ago - tutor started off well but went down hill after being hit with personal problems - there may be others who feel the same but after what happened with my class I suggest that you approach the tutor on your own with your concerns - let other people sort out their problems - I say this because we exchanged some emails about the problems and then one of the group sent an email to the tutor outlining the problems which lead to a dicussion at the beginning of the next class which did feel confrontational and to add to it the person who had sent the email to the tutor wasnt even there as she was running late so I ended up leading the discussion on behalf of the class because I was the only one who had the front to do so - I didnt feel it was fair to leave the tutor hanging - trust me there wasnt much back up from the rest of the class and they were the ones with the gripes - I didnt even think it was as bad as they made out.
I do think you should say something, like us you are doing this to retrain , not for a new hobby - if you give a bad massage would you expect your client to pay? so why should you accept bad teaching - it may be that you just need a little more feed back
once you start your case studies your confidence will grow

good luck - hope you feel better after posting -

Sarah
x

 

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[icetauppigzijkeqx]

Cheer up!
You are learning a lesson in self detemination.
Are the other students in the same boat or it it just you?
Have you networked with the other students for out of class sessions?

I hope he is not one of my tutors but if you are studying in a formal college setting, try this (and remember to smile):
1. Ask the tutor for a 'tutorial'. Explain how you feel lacking in confidence with your learning. If no joy, then do it more formally -
2. Check in the brochure forthe complaints procedure and follow that.

Paper work and more paper work. I would not like to think it all your tutor's fault. The VTCT re-issued their requirements last autumn and it takes ages to update everything. Then again in my college experience (student/tutor/assessor/verifier), just when you have everything streamlined and ready to use again, something changes and its back to square one. So your expericene this year is not a disadvantage cos it's nearly always like this...we all have to keep up to date and that means getting used to change.
Once you ahev done this course there is CPD to look forward to!

 

[jpeafuxeidfiqgecw]

If you feel able to do so, have a word with the tutor and let him know that you're concerned. They can only react when they know what the problem is. With restructuring the courses all the time it can be pretty stressful for the tutor as they are often told things lasyt minute.

I attended a course which didn't start well, was a bit him and us for a while, but eventually we said, this isn't how we learn, was a bit awkward for a couple of weeks but with us supporting him and giving him feedback, he was able to adapt to our needs and it turned out to be a pretty good course.

The teacher shoud be professional and not blame their students for a lack of understanding or organisation - give feedback, lots of it if he needs it. He'll have to react and respond and it can only be a good thing.

I can't say much about VTCT and paperwork, I have to say I found it to be an added unnecessary stress at times, when I wished we'd cover new ground instead - or have more formal exams. I was unfortunate that for every VTCT course I did the old courseowkr wasn't recognised and I had to keep redoing everything. Frustrating. It's not ideal, just grit your teeth, do what you can and hang in there. It'll be worth it.

 

[AnGeL oF lOvE]

Thanks everyone! I am feeling a bit more cheery as have practiced this evening on one of my willing guinea pigs and they enjoyed the massage and they would definitely say if something wasn't good. I think it helped that I was in my own environment and therfore more relaxed and confident. However, I do still need to confirm things with my tutor.

I'm definitely planning on speaking to him. Thought it best to leave it after the last lesson just to let everyone de-stress! Everyone in the class that feels the same way although I think I'll follow Sarah's (Hemelgirl's) advice and just speak to him about my own concerns. I want things to stay friendly (I'm not very good at being all shouty anyway!) and I do understand that it's difficult for tutors when they are inundated with lots of ridiculous admin and things change all the time, however, it just frusrates and upsets me when we are made to feel bad and even blamed for things that soooo aren't our fault!

Thanks again everyone. As usual, your advice as been really helpful.

Take care

 

[dpoxvdcl]

Hi Sarah

have you been to your class this week and if so did you have a chat with your tutor?
I hope you feel better about everything - like I said in my previous post - confidence comes with experience - it sounds as though you feel happier after the weekend



hemelgirl

 

[akczmnll]

Hi Sarah

Yep - went to class last night and everybody including our tutor seemed a lot happier .

I only briefly got to mention my issue and didn't get to discuss it with him in full so will have another go at it next week!

However,I had really good feedback from the client I was treating last night and it was somebodywho has lots of regularmassages so I was really pleased and it gave me a big confidence boost. Yay! One thing that did get me thinking about whether I'm carrying out the techniques correctly and whether I'm going to be good enough afterwards and this was due to the fact that one of my classmates works in a posh spa and they were saying that the massage therapists there are amazing and how they get sent off on courses and are taught advanced technques. But like you said I guess it's all down to experience so I will stay positive and work really hard at being as good as possible!

Thank you so much for asking how I got on. I really appreciate the thought.

Enjoy the rest of the week and your weekend [sm=jump1.gif]

 

[xmedwushioeidseqm]

Glad you at least got to broach the subject, it's horrid when the teachers not hitting the mark.. much better if you explain where it's not suiting you and they can tackle it before your learning is jeopardised. Keep going with what you're doing, sounds like you're going to make a great therapist!

 

[aqeapunpicmigpefh]

Thanks Justine.

It was definitely a relief to have at least mentioned the matter to him. I will try and have a proper chat with him next week!

Thanks for your kind words as well. I really appreciate that.

Take care and have a lovely weekend.

 

[YahooUser]

Hi Sarah

glad you are feeling happier -
if you feel that there are still issues you would like to raise with your tutor can you email him?
just a thought - I dont know about you but I hate talking to people about things that I am unhappy about and tend to end up talking jibberish

anyway
happy massageing

Sarah x

 

[Needs an answer]

Hi Sarah

I think I'll have another go at talking to him. last week we were all late out after treating our clients for assessments. We have to answer questions after we've finished and he still had about 4 people to see after I'd left and I was about 15mins late out myself so I just didn't get another chance.

I haven't got an e-mail address for him unfortunately although I guess I could call the college to find out! Will have a little think on that one!

Anyways, have a good weekend.